Intriguing earthquake newspaper…

January 10, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

A newspaper I came across recently was one I nearly tossed in the trash believing it to be only the back leaf of a four page newspaper. We have, unfortunately, many such remnants lying around the warehouse. But before tossing the issue aside I noted a heading (see below) near the top of the first column: “FORM PIED ! ” In printing parlance “pied” means the set type was reduced to a jumble by being knocked, dropped, etc. The text notes: “Going to press this afternoon the first and fourth pages of the Dispatch forms were pied by the carrier to the press rooms. We are, therefore, unable to issue more than half a sheet of the paper to-day.” (see) So, this single sheet, without a banner masthead, was a complete newspaper after all.

But even more intriguing  is that just below this “pied” report is an early report of the San Francisco earthquake of 1868, headed: “The Earthquake” which begins: “The reports from different quarters show that the great shock yesterday morning was felt with more or less intensity all around the Bay, to a great distance. It appears to have been most severe in Alameda county & the damage to property was large. In this city, the loss has been great, though probably not to the extent that was feared yesterday. Many buildings have been damaged…” with more on both sides of the newspaper.

Of curious interest is whether the type was pied as a result of an aftershock, which always accompany earthquakes. Indeed, a report at the bottom of the page is headed “Shock” and notes: “Another shock of earthquake was felt this morning a few minutes before one o’clock. It was quite perceptibly felt & several left their houses thinking it was the prelude to a heavier one…”. So did the printer’s assistant drop the type for pages 1 and 4 due to an aftershock? We’ll never know, but the combination of the early earthquake report–from the city where it happened–and the reduced state of this edition due to the type being dropped makes for an intriguing newspaper.

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Noteworthy Issues, Post Civil War, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre, Valuation of Issues
Tagged: , ,

So, what’s a “humhum”?

January 8, 2011 by · 2 Comments 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

This advertisement appeared in the “Middlesex Gazette” of Middletown, Connecticut, on June 13, 1803. I have no idea what a “humhum” is. Do any of you?

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Pre Civil War, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
Tagged: , ,

Entry point into the Rare Newspapers Collectible… 20th Century…

January 6, 2011 by · 2 Comments 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

In the past the History’s Newsstand Blog has featured posts on the upper end of the collectible: “Prices Realized” and “Most Collectible Issues“.  To kick off the new year we thought it might be nice to look at the other end of the spectrum:  “Entry Points to the Rare Newspapers Collectible”.  Throughout this month we will target examples of the least expensive collectible newspapers available for each century.

Our journey begins with the 20th century…

The following selection provides a glimpse of the wide variety of issues available valued at $15* and under.  Areas of interest include shipping, finance, theater, historic events, and more.  Many more exist on the Rare Newspapers website, but others can be found throughout the collectible community as well.  The item numbers for each are linked to corresponding images.

A World War II newspaper from the Navy Yard…
575571 BEACON, Philadelphia Navy Yard, 1944  A military paper produced at the Navy Yard with a great wealth of war-related content and a war-related masthead as well.
Eight pages, 10 1/2 by 16 pages, printed on high quality paper, nice condition. $9.00*

From the Panama Canal Zone…
579280 THE PANAMA CANAL RECORD, Balboa Heights, Canal Zone, 1928. A little magazine subtitled: “Official Publication of the Panama Canal” with a wealth of data concerning the canal and its use. Approximately twenty-six pages measuring 9″x6″. $12.00*

World War 1…
161488 OFFICIAL BULLETIN, Washington, DC, 1918. An unusual newspaper published daily by the “Committee on Public Information”, meant to keep the public informed of both political & military matters, particularly during the WWI period. Note that the photo is “generic” and the issue you get will be of a slightly different date but will have the format as shown. Sixteen pages measuring 12″x9″. Lightly browned with some minor edge tears. $10.00*

For the little child in all of us…
161498 THE YOUTH’S COMPANION, Boston, Massachusetts, 1900. A charming newspaper with several short stories for children, featuring several wonderful illustrations, an ornate masthead, and plenty of advertisements. $10.00*

In-house real estate periodical…
161495 STROUT’S BUGGY-SEAT CONFIDENCES, Boston, Massachusetts, 1911. A curious little publication by and for those working for the Strout real estate company, the “World’s Largest Farm Agency”. Printed on coated stock.  $10.00*

Movie News! Burt Lancaster & Ava Gardner…
564394 MOTION PICTURE DAILY, from New York, dated September 28, 1956. Interesting little publication for and about the movie industry, giving the latest information on the various background events of the motion picture world. Television news as well. Too much to mention. 6 pages measuring 12″x9″, printed on coated stock paper. Nice shape. $10.00*

Additional issues priced at $15* and under may be viewed at:  Entry Level Newspapers

* All prices shown were valid as of the release date of this post.

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Newspaper Collecting Ideas, The 20th & 21st Centuries, The Hobby, Valuation of Issues
Tagged: , , , ,

Mark Twain… on the Jews…

January 3, 2011 by · 2 Comments 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

We recently discovered an issue of Harper’s Monthly from September, 1899 which has a lengthy article by Mark Twain regarding Jews.  While he is often viewed as America’s greatest writer, few are aware of his ongoing defense of minorities within the U.S., including Jews, Blacks, Native Americans, along with other minority groups. To kick off the new year on an upbeat, but challenging note, we invite you to view the text of “Concerning the Jews“, by Mark Twain.  As we reflect on the 100+ years since this was written, it appears that many have heeded his words – a tribute to the melting pot potential of the citizens of the United States.

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Food for Thought, Noteworthy Issues, Post Civil War
Tagged: , , , , ,

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

To:  The Collectors and Friends of Rare & Early Newspapers…

Have a Happy New Year!

From:  The Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers Staff

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Food for Thought, Post Civil War, The Rare Newspapers Community
Tagged: ,

The Traveler… greetings… and something to chew on…

December 30, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

As this year draws to an end, I traveled back 100 years to December 31, 1910. The Christian Science Monitor that day contained a variety of articles on the front page from aeroplane flights records being broken to Chicago having a record in new buildings to the fall off in Alaska gold production to the discovery of a new star!  A nice automobile ad is also present.

However the article that intrigued me most was of “Taft Greeting to Army and Navy.”  It had been a New Year’s custom for the officers stationed in Washington to call on the President as commander-in-chief, however there would be change this year. President Taft had arranged to have telegrams or cablegrams sent to every navy yard, naval station, army post, fleet or detached vessel he could reach. The message was brief, but was a Presidential greeting sent around the world.

As you are celebrating New Year’s with your pork and sauerkraut, consider the additional article I found in this issue, “Alfalfa As Food Served Guests” where the entire meal and beverages consisted of alfalfa, including the toothpicks being made from the alfalfa straw…

Wishing a blessed New Year to you and yours.

~The Traveler

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: The 20th & 21st Centuries, The Hobby, Uncategorized, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
Tagged: , , , , ,

One newspaper, nine cities…

December 27, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

“The Memphis Daily Appeal” newspaper was one with a fascinating history during the years of the Civil War. Memphis was a Confederate stronghold up through the Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862, at which time the Yankees moved in and it became a Yankee city. The “Appeal“, very much dedicated to the Southern cause rallying both civilians & soldiers, was the most important newspaper of the region & was soon famously known as the “Moving Appeal.”
On June 6, 1862, the presses and plates were loaded into a boxcar and moved to Grenada, Mississippi, where it stayed for a few months until approaching Federal troops threatened again, forcing a move in November 1862 to Jackson, Mississippi, where it published until May 1863, when Federal troops again arrived. By this time, the “Appeal” had gained notoriety among Union forces as a rebel sympathizer while it remained on the run. The next stop was Meridian, Mississippi, from where, one issue and two days later, the wandering journalists moved on to Mobile, Alabama, then to Montgomery, and ultimately to Atlanta, the economic heart of the Confederacy. Publication from Atlanta began in June 1863 and continued through July 1864, when it returned to Montgomery, where it published from September 1864 to April 1865. Its final move was to Columbus, Georgia, where Federal forces finally caught up with it. It resumed publication following the war in Memphis on November 5, 1865. During just a four year period this newspaper published in nine different cities. (credit: Tennessee State Library & Archives)

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Confederate, Noteworthy Issues, The Hobby
Tagged: , , ,

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

To:  The Collectors and Friends of Rare & Early Newspapers…

Have a blessed Christmas!

From:  The Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers Staff

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Post Civil War
Tagged: ,

A few holiday thoughts…

December 22, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

Dear Friends of Rare & Early Newspapers,

While the holiday season is a time of celebration and joy for most, it is also a time of sadness and depression for others – as they reflect on the loss of loved ones, their own difficult circumstances, and/or the troubles of friends and relatives.   A few years ago, on the heals of the “Great Fall” of 2008, we posted a few thoughts on life.  As we glide, saunter, and/or stumble (for some) through the holiday season, please enjoy reflections on this past post:

“This too shall pass” (Hebrew: גם זה יעבור‎, gam zeh yaavor) is a phrase occurring in a Jewish wisdom folktale involving King Solomon. The phrase is commonly engraved on silver rings.

Many versions of the folktale have been recorded by the Israel Folklore Archive at the University of Haifa. Heda Jason recorded this version told by David Franko from Turkey:

“One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, “Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it.” “If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty,” replied Benaiah, “I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?” “It has magic powers,” answered the king. “If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy.” Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day’s wares on a shabby carpet. “Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?” asked Benaiah. He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. “Well, my friend,” said Solomon, “have you found what I sent you after?” All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone’s surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, “Here it is, your majesty!” As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words “Gam zeh ya’avor” — “This too shall pass.” At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.”

The phrase “This too shall pass” and the associated ring story were made popular by Abraham Lincoln in his ‘Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin’ on September 30, 1859.

“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: “And this, too, shall pass away.” How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!

As we look back on the previous 2+ years, we see much has occurred since this posting.  While we’ve lost loved ones, lost faithful collector friends, and observed many succumb to the realities of the economy, we’ve also enjoyed the strength that comes from weathering shared troubles, the joy of meeting new friends, and the quiet confidence that comes from seeing God’s hand in action in an endless number of circumstances.  It is times of difficulty which encourage us to value the important things in life and to grasp the reality of “This Too Shall Pass” as we endeavor to store up treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy.  Please know that YOU, our dear friends, are such treasures.  Thank you for your ongoing friendships.

Merry Christmas (and Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish family),

Your Friends at Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers

(Guy, Tim, Doreen, Brian, Mike, Gerry, Hannah, Sarah, Rebekah, Joshua…)

Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers . . .

. . . History’s Newsstand

“…desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.” Hebrews 13:18b

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Food for Thought
Tagged: ,

“Go West, young man…”

December 20, 2010 by · 2 Comments 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

I know there is dispute over who first used the oft-cited phrase: “Go West, young man…” widely attributed to Greeley. The following provides some background:

“…That is a question that is still being argued more than a century later. Horace Greeley (1811-72), founder of the New York Tribune, has long been quoted for his line in a July 13, 1865 editorial. The authorship was disputed, however, in the 1981 book, The People’s Almanac, by David Wallechinsky & Irving Wallace. They were not the first to dispute the parentage, but they certainly popularized the argument. They claimed that John B. Soule (1815-1891) penned the line 14 years earlier, in 1851, in an editorial in the Terra Haute, Indiana, Express.
That was not the end of the argument and all its permutations, however, because in September, 2004, author Thomas Fuller confused the matter even further when he published an article in the Indiana Magazine of History in which he claimed that he could not find any such quote by Soule. In fact, he could not even find a published claim for Soule’s parentage before 1890. That revelation intrigued us because we have always noticed how odd it is that a date in 1851 has never been supplied. The lack thereof always rings an alarm and suggests that the writer is merely quoting someone else. So, let us look at the evidence.

Hal Gordon wrote this summary of Greeley’s editorial:

Greeley’s editorial in the New York Tribune in 1865 was addressed specifically to young civil servants in Washington, D.C. who were complaining that the government didn’t pay them enough, given the high cost of living in the nation’s capital. Greeley had scant sympathy for them. He wrote: “Washington is not a place to live in. The rents are high, the food is bad, the dust is disgusting and the morals are deplorable. Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country.”

Despite the controversy, there seems to be a general consensus among the many citations on the internet that Greeley used the phrase in his July 13, 1865 editorial, as noted above. I have the Tribune of the 13th  and scoured through the issue yet never found the quote. The closest I could come is in “The Homestead Law” piece, page 4 col. 4, where he mentioned: “…We earnestly urge upon all such to turn their faces Westward and colonize the public lands…” (see below).

Am I missing something? Does the phrase actually exist somewhere in this newspaper? Could one erroneous citation many years ago have been cited again and again without anyone actually checking the newspaper to verify? Perhaps some collectors have this issue, or perhaps another edition with this famous quote. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who might be able to offer some helpful information.

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Civil War, Noteworthy Issues, Post Civil War
Tagged: , , , , ,

« Previous Page — Next Page »